SB 77: Expanding Medicaid Under Obamacare

This bill passed out of its Senate committee but was not voted on by the full Senate.

Libertas Institute opposes this bill.

We have written extensively (here, here, and here) about the problems associated with expanding the Medicaid program in Utah under the Affordable Care Act. Last year there was a lot of political attention on Governor Gary Herbert’s “Healthy Utah” proposal to expand Medicaid and all its various iterations. We favor a free market solution to this issue.

Unsurprisingly, Medicaid expansion proposals are back again this year. Senate Bill 77, sponsored by Senator Gene Davis, proposes to fully expand the Medicaid program in Utah to all those eligible under the Affordable Care Act’s vision for Medicaid expansion.

While it’s unlikely the bill advances through the legislature, elected officials should understand the grave financial risk this proposal would bring to the state budget, and as a result, oppose the measure.